IGNITION
The Targa has been reintroduced into the 911 family, and there’s a very special edition to celebrate it
Porsche’s new, insanely desirable 911 Targa, intelligent speed adaptors and how they will affect the driving experience, droolworthy watches and all the new cars launched last month
THE PORSCHE 911 FAMILY OFFERS something for everyone. Want to drive a sportscar on your grocery run? Buy the Carrera. Want to humiliate a supercar on the Autobahn? Get yourself the Turbo S. Want a track weapon? Go splurge on the GT3 RS. But where does the Targa fit in?
The answer is simple — charm. While the rest of the 911 range has become faster than ever, in the hunt for ever quicker 0 to 100 times, the Targa has strayed away from that. It aims to distil simple driving pleasure while offering just enough power. Power that you can use on the road. Couple that with the iconic Targa roll bar, the brilliant roof mechanism and the huge glass area at the back, and you have a car that would be scintillating on a curvy road, and look just as good as a showpiece in your living room. Sure, the Targa doesn’t sell nearly as well as some of the other models in the 911 range but that makes the Targa all the more special, more exclusive.
This doesn’t mean the Targa is an old relic, quite the contrary. The part-glass, part-canvas roofed convertible recently got updated for the 992 generation. This includes the new front bumpers, new headlights and taillights, and the new interior layout with the digital instrument cluster and a 10.9-inch infotainment display. Yes, the knobby gear selector has made it too. And when the sun is shining, you can put away the canvas roof at the flick of a switch in 19 seconds. In the back sits a three-litre twin-turbo six-cylinder boxer engine which produces 379bhp and 450Nm of torque in the Targa 4, or 444bhp and 530Nm
in the Targa 4S. The engine is mated to an eight-speed dual-clutch transmission which powers all four wheels. 0 to 100kmph takes 4.2 seconds in the Targa 4, while the Targa 4S can do it in a brisk 3.6 seconds. Keep your foot pinned in the Targa 4 and you’ll be able to hit a top speed of 289kmph, while the Targa 4S can go on till 304kmph. Just make sure your wig is glued on properly. In terms of drivetrain, the Targa models are identical to the Carrera 4 and 4S that were introduced earlier.
Porsche took this idea of blending iconic design with modern technology and fashioned the car pictured here. The 911 Targa 4S Heritage Design Edition. It has been designed to pay homage to classic Porsches from the 50s and early 60s and comes peppered with references to the good ol’ days.
For starters, the ‘Cherry Metallic’ paintwork, which is exclusive to this edition, pays tribute to colours available on the Porsche 356. Not only does the paint look stunning, it adds an almost liquid dimension to the curves of the 992. If you prefer a more sober look, you could have it in black, red, silver or grey too. The paintwork is complimented by the Heritage livery, resembling the one on the 911 Speedster. It gets a competition number encircled in white on the side, the buyer can choose any number between 1-99, with ‘Porsche’ lettering along the lower half. There are also spear-shaped streaks above the headlights. These nod to Porsche’s early motorsport
IN TERMS OF DRIVETRAIN, THE TARGA MODELS ARE IDENTICAL TO
THE CARRERA 4 AND 4S
history, where paint was first used to cover up scratches and dings, and later the spears became a sort of “warpaint” before entering a race.
It doesn’t stop there though. The modern Porsche crest makes way for one from the 60s, featuring an older typeface for the Porsche lettering and is finished in gold. In fact, all other badges on the outside, including the ‘Porsche’ lettering at the back, are coloured gold. The car also features a ‘Porsche Heritage’ badge on the rear deck lid, which was originally awarded to Porsche 356s back in the day when they covered more than one lakh kilometres. The Heritage Edition gets Fuchs-style rims, 20-inch ones in the front and 21-inches at the rear. These pay homage to the Fuchs wheels that were first used on the 911 S in 1967.
The retro theme continues on the inside too. The red and beige ties in with the exterior colour and has been designed specifically for this edition. It also features corduroy inserts on the seats and door panels, a material that originally featured on the 356. Like the paintwork, you can have the interior trimmed in a more subtle colour scheme too. Like we saw with the 911 R, the dials and buttons all glow green instead of the usual white but here even the numbers on the digital instrument cluster are green! This Heritage Design Edition Targa will be limited to 992 examples. Buyers of this edition will exclusively be allowed to purchase the Chronograph 911 Targa 4S Heritage Design Edition which has been designed to match the car and will be limited to 992 units as well. The 911 Targa 4S Heritage Design Edition is the first of three other Heritage Editions that will follow and will be based on other variants of the 911. Each of these will try to bring the ethos of Porsches from the 50s to the 80s. For those who aren’t lucky enough to purchase the limited run models, some of the retro elements like the tachometer and the 60s Porsche crest will be available as off-the-shelf additions for buyers of regular 911s as part of the Pure Heritage Design package.
While we haven’t received the standard Targa in India yet, it is expected to cost `2.2 crore if it is launched in India. Being a limited run model, we estimate the Heritage Edition to cost more at around `2.9 crore, if someone is lucky enough to buy it. It is unlikely, since slots for limited edition Porsches are usually hard to come by. Maybe customers who’ve clocked more than one lakh kilometres on the odometers of their Porsches should be given preference. That would certainly allow it to find at least one home in our country.